LAS VEGAS — Daniel Cormier seems to have found his next verbal sparring partner with Jon Jones on the shelf.
Cormier said earlier this week that Ryan Bader was trying to “cut to the front of the line” of the light heavyweight division. Bader responded on Twitter, questioning who Cormier has ever beaten at 205 pounds in the UFC.
The two were supposed to meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night 68 on June 6 in New Orleans until Cormier was pulled from the bout to fight Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 on Saturday. So, for the time being, the only war Cormier and Bader will be having is one of words.
“He’s lucky he’s not here right now,” Cormier said Wednesday at UFC 187 open workouts at MGM Grand. “I’ll kick his ass Friday before I fight ‘Rumble’ on Saturday.”
Ha! @dc_mma who the hell have you beat @ 205? No one in the top 10. Don’t come at me and say I haven’t beaten anyone https://t.co/h2aIiWXlZW
— Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) May 20, 2015
.@dc_mma we were scheduled to fight twice and you got out of both, don’t let the @ufc bail you out of your first title defense against me.
— Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) May 20, 2015
Cormier (15-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones at UFC 182 on Jan. 3. Coming into that fight, Cormier was regarded as one of the best 15 pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but he only has wins over Dan Henderson and Patrick Cummins (in his debut) at light heavyweight. Cormier, 36, does own heavyweight victories over Josh Barnett, Antonio Silva and Frank Mir.
Bader (19-4) has won four straight with two recent wins over top-10 light heavyweights Phil Davis and Ovince Saint Preux.
“There’s no Ryan Bader animosity, it’s just Bader’s talking, which is smart,” Cormier said. “He should. Because he’s gotta do something to make himself interesting. But Bader needs to sit his ass down and be quiet is what he needs to do. I’ve got a championship to win over here and he’s Twittering me.”
Cormier said he won’t stop checking social media until right up against fight time with Johnson. Cormier got the call late last month to fill in for Jon Jones, who was arrested on a felony charge, suspended and stripped of his light heavyweight title. The fight between Cormier and Johnson will be for the vacant belt.
Cormier said he only started campaigning for Jones’ spot when Bader was trying to get the Johnson fight.
“Ryan Bader started putting stuff on the internet, and it was like, what the hell’s wrong with you?” Cormier said at a media lunch in Los Angeles on Monday. “You’re trying to cut to the front of the line. It’s not like he beat anybody.”
Cormier, the former Olympic wrestler, said there is plenty of negativity on Twitter — not just from Bader. But it’s something he feeds off of.
“The sentiment is that I’m in over my head and I enjoy seeing that, because it motivates me,” Cormier said. “I don’t know where it comes from, but let them believe it. It’ll feel good on Saturday night whenever I get my hand raised.”